Friday Night Lights
by kr3ativ23
Summary: What happens when Nick is shot after a night out with the team? His shooter isn't talking, can the team figure out the motive before anyone else gets hurt? When Nick's family's past is brought into the past will that muck up the water but will Nick live to tell his side of the story? Will the team be able to focus while Nick's life hangs in the balance?
1. Prey For Nick

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI!

I needed to take a break from my other stories and start something fresh. So please tell me what you think? Please Review!

Nick is suddenly shot after a case. His shooter isn't talking, can the team figure out the motive before anyone else gets hurt?

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Prey for Nick

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_Football is a rite of passage in the south even more so in Texas, especially in Belton. It's a feeling I can compare to nothing else. Being under the Friday night lights, hearing my family, friends, and neighbors, cheering for me and my teammates. It was like we were preparing for battle. The camaraderie of all us is something I've never experienced anywhere else, even here. I remember walking around town in my letterman jacket and people shaking my hand. The tiger jacket was something earned not given and people knew that. Something about being under the lights brought another person out within me, it was like a high. I miss it…_

* * *

How can he just sit there, celebrating never the less? What is he so happy for? Just watching him makes my blood boil. He thinks that badge or whatever he carries is his shield but that cannot protect him now. Each action has a consequence especially when you cross me. With everything she told him, you would think he would have learned or known better. He was supposed to be smart, you figure you would have to be in order to be a CSI or do whatever he does. Obviously not though.

Everything he is doing just solidifies my anger, he's celebrating while my family is in shambles somewhere because of him. No, no… he has to learn… the hard way. I pull out the solution from my glove box. I just bought it from some little gangbanger for sixty bucks. It's a small thing, but it'll get the job done I'm sure. The way the street light reflects off this little beauty puts my shaking hands at ease. I look up just in time to see him leave, walking out with two ladies.

I grip the gun tight. My adrenaline roaring as just seeing him set my rage to a new level. Seeing him smiling and laughing and now I cannot see straight as tunnel vision sets in on my target… my prey. He thought I was all talk, or a coward. We will see who's all talk now. I grip the gun as I open the door. I shove the gun in my pocket and walk towards him. Hearing his laughter solidifies my actions. I speed up my gait seeing them disperse. His back is towards me, no… no… he needs to see me. See my face, and know that I'm the one that did this, I'm the one who took his life.

"Stokes…"

* * *

Earlier… Finn and Sara were nervously waiting outside the courtroom, they were waiting for Nick and Mandy to come back, hoping that they wouldn't miss the verdict. They were waiting to hear the verdict for a case that had everyone stressed out, because of the uncertainty of the verdict. Each verdict had a certain level of uncertainty but this one could truly go either way. The whole case was frustrating, little evidence and what evidence was recovered was not the most solid and the defendant's lawyer tried to attack the character of the CSIs with no luck.

"I'm glad Nick is in a better mood. Do you know what was up with him?" Finn asked Sara. Sara just shrugged seeing Nick and Mandy headed their way.

"I bet it was just the case. I'm sure we will all be in a better mood once this verdict comes back." Sara says running her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, I hope so… what's going on with Nick and Mandy?" Finn asked and Sara gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"I need some gossip…" Finn playfully whined. Nick and Mandy walk up as Mandy tries to wipe something off her blouse as Nick holds her purse.

"Gossip? I love gossip." Mandy said smiling.

"You know I was married twice and could never get my husband hold my purse." Finn said and Nick smiled.

"Gentlemen hold them." Nick said winking at Finn. "Take this, please." Nick said handing Mandy her purse as he loosened his tie.

"Nick will make a great housewife, someday." Mandy teased as Nick rolled his eyes.

"She's been nonstop all day." Nick said to Finn and Sara as he pointed to Mandy as she chuckled.

"He's made it easy." Mandy said still laughing.

"The verdict is in. The court is in session." The bailiff said and everyone flocked back into the courtroom anxious to find out what the verdict would be. They all sat down only to stand again as the judge came and took a seat.

"Will the defendant please rise? Madame Foreman, did you reach a verdict?" the judge asked.

"Yes, we the jury find the defendant, Charles Smith, guilty of first degree murder." The foreman read and the victim's family erupted in cries of happiness. The CSIs were just as happy but tried to maintain a certain level of professionalism, as they all took a deep relieving sigh.

"Oh man… I need a drink." Finn said and Nick nodded in agreement.

"Let's go to O'Malley's." Nick said happy.

The celebration did in fact carry over to O'Malley's and it was incredibly uplifting for everyone's mood. They were laughing and joking with one another, just smiling. The team needed this win, and this little celebration.

"Let me go get us some refills." Nick said going to the bar, Nick flagged down the bartender and smiled.

"What can I get for you, sir?" the bartender asked.

"I need a scotch, two waters, and a strawberry tini thing." Nick asked smiling at the bartender.

"So I take it the strawberry tini thing isn't for you." She teased back smiling at Nick.

"No, no… but I sure would like to watch you make one." Nick flirted and she smiled.

"Nick, you leave my bartenders alone. You've already cost me enough of them." The general manager, Vinnie, teased. Nick just laughed as he took the drinks.

"You know, I'm a sucker for beautiful women." Nick said smiling as he took the drinks and headed back to the booth.

"Let's say cheers?" Finn said taking her drink. "Cheers to teamwork." Everyone raised their glass even people who weren't in there booth. O'Malley's was the local cop bar, so everyone in the place was celebrating whether they knew it or not.

"Alright, I don't mean to be a buzz kill but I gotta go. I have to testify in the morning. Huntley hearing for the Daniels trial." Sara said less than enthused.

"Good luck." Nick said as they said their goodbyes as Sara left. They drank some more as they all laughed and they joked with each other. Mandy was relentless in her teasing of Nick and the fact that he was a little tipsy made it even easier and more enjoyable.

"Let me get another round." Nick said but Mandy grabbed his arm stopping him.

"Oh no, that's it for me." Mandy said chuckling.

"c'mon, the night is young…"

"But some of us have to work tomorrow." Finn said, Nick sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'll walk you out." Nick said. He settled the tab and held the door open for the ladies.

"Jesus, Nick, all this chivalry is going to be too much. You got any brothers?" Finn teased, Nick laughed.

"Nope, just a sister." Nick laughed. "So Mandy you're coming home with me, right?" Nick teased because it was time for a little payback. "You know, I'm joking. I love to make Mandy blush." Nick said to Finn and she smiled.

"No, I'm fine." Mandy said trying to hide her blush.

"How about a hug for a job well done? A handshake?" Nick said smiling. Mandy walked over to give Nick a handshake but Nick picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Nick, put me down." Mandy squealed and Nick put her down and Mandy pushed him away. Nick started laughing as did Finn. Mandy turned and started walking towards her car.

"Bye Mandy Dandy." Nick said laughing still.

"See you later, Stokes." Mandy said her cheeks blushing.

"See you later, Finn." Nick said as Finn sat in her car. Nick turned to start heading towards his truck.

"Stokes…" Nick heard someone say. He turned around still smiling from the torture he caused Mandy but seeing a gun raised at him snatched all the laughter inside him and caused him to sober up in record timing. Mandy was about to start her car when she heard a gunshot. She immediately ducked a little and dropped her keys. She cautiously brought her head up to get a look outside. Her stomach dropped as she saw Nick lying on the ground still as a board. Mandy immediately ran to him hearing Finn ordering the man to drop the gun.

"Nick?!" Mandy yelled as she holds pressure on the gun shot with no luck as his blood just flowed through her fingers with great ease.

"My… leg… my legs…" Nick struggled to say as his body was going quickly into shock.

"Just hold on, help is coming. Nick…" Mandy said crying. Nick held onto her arm as his eyes drifted shut even against his best efforts. "Nick, open your eyes. Please, Nick, open your eyes!" Nick opened his eyes stuggling greatly. Mandy and Finn were trying to keep Nick as relaxed as they could as Akers and Mitchell came out and apprehended the man and called for an ambulance.

"I… I…" Nick said gasping for air as his chest moved erractically. The look on his face was one of sheer terror one that could never be erased from their brains. Nick started to cough up blood bringing the urgency of the situation to a new level.

"Nick, you are going to be alright. Just hang in there, help is on its way." Mandy said struggling with her own emotions as Nick's grip on her sleeve got weaker.

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	2. Panicked

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI!  
Please Review! Thank you all the feedback following the first chapter :)

* * *

Panicked

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Mandy was barely able to keep up with the stretcher as the paramedics quickly pushed it into the ER to the awaiting trauma team. Nick was able to stay awake the entire ride in, fighting the paramedics in every way. Mandy didn't need to be a doctor to know the seriousness of what was happening in front of her even if she was not absorbing everything. She could hear the tone in the paramedics voice change as they worked furiously.

"What do we have?" the person Mandy assumed was the doctor, and the head of the chaos, asked.

"GSW to the abdomen. Not alert, very agitated. Last set of vitals was 156 weak pulse rate, BP was 74 on palp and dropping, respirations are 25 dysynpea and shallow." The paramedic said as they moved Nick over to the hospital gurney. "No neuros or sensation to his legs." The paramedic added quickly.

"Barb, call the trauma surgeon… and call the police doc. Lisa, let's get some versed, morphine, and succholliyne IV and prepare to intubate. Sir, I need you to calm down. We are going to give you something for the pain, okay?" the doctor said moving over to Nick's head.

Nick's arms shook as he tried to grab anything he could. The feeling of impending doom gloomed over Nick's head, and he had the look of pure panic on his face as he tried to fight through the pain and the fear. Nick's felt his adrenaline start to subside as he squeezed Mandy's hand tight. His eyes started to get heavy and he started to feel exhausted as he fell back against the gurney. After each blink he felt like hours passed and everything looked like it was in slow motion and everything sounded warped. He began to feel sleepy and no longer could grab anything. All his pain went away and he felt a feeling of almost euphoria as his eyes drifted shut. A nurse quickly escorted Mandy out before anything got anymore gruesome then it had already gotten. The doctor had been preoccupied with trying to help Nick and forgotten about her standing there watching the events unfold.

Mandy stumbled into the waiting room in shock. She couldn't really grasp what had just happened but now it was setting in. She looked down at her hands and they were sticking as Nick's blood that covered her hands began to dry. She looked down at her clothes and she finally noticed her blood soak clothes. She looked up as DB, Finn, and Brass ran into the waiting room. Finn looked to be in similar shape as Mandy.

"Mandy, are you alright?" DB asked, and just as fast as he asked the question Mandy felt her world closing in on her and started hyperventilating and Brass quickly led her to a seat. Mandy slowly composed herself. "Finn, what happened?"

"I… I don't know... we were all leaving. That man just walked up to him and shot him." Finn said clearing her throat still in shock.

"Okay, okay… I want you both to clean up and give a statement." DB ordered, Finn opened her mouth to speak but DB already knew what she was going to say. "Don't start down that path, Jules. Do what I asked please." DB said walking away to meet up with Brass and get an update from him.

"Hey DB," Brass said emotionally drawn.

"Hey Jim, what do you have?" DB asked.

"Shooter's name is Gary Stevens. According to witnesses, Nick was on his phone Stevens came from behind him, called him, and then he just shot him. He's in custody now he hasn't said anything, he lawyered up right away. Stevens has no record but we are still looking. I'm going to try to take another crack at him." Brass said rubbing his face. He knew that the best way to help Nick was to put his shooter behind bars but this feeling of helpless started to become a recurring theme as of late.

"I'll keep you updated." DB said padding Brass' shoulder.

"Thanks…" Brass said but didn't move. DB looked at him waiting for Brass to express his worry. "Are you going to be notifying next of kin?"

"Yes, his sister out in California. I'm going to call her in a moment." DB said taking a moment for himself. Both men were deeply puzzled and numb.

"You know, I was in charge of the lab when Nick first came out of here. He was this excited, eager, anxious kid. He was a street cop turned CSI from Dallas. It was nice to have a member on the team that was like me, you know? We aren't from Vegas, we both hate it here." Brass chuckled a little as his eyes got glassy. "Keep me updated, will ya?" Brass said walking away trying to keep his emotions in wrap.

DB walked away as he put Nick's sister's number into his phone. He stared at the number for what felt like an eternity trying to build the confidence to call her. He was trying to find his words as he finally called the number. A small part of him almost wished she wouldn't pick up, this was going to be one of the worst phone calls someone could get.

"Hello?" a friendly upbeat voice on the other side said. DB cleared his voice in preparation to speak.

"Hello is this Caroline Goode?" DB asked.

"Yes?" She said slightly confused.

"Hello, Mrs. Goode, this is DB Russell with the Las Vegas Crime Lab…"

"What happened to Nick?" she interrupted with a slight panic in her voice.

"Ma'am, I don't know how to tell you this but your brother was shot today." DB said he heard her whimper on the other line and then there was a long pause.

"Is he… is he…" she cried out. DB could feel her devastation and pain.

"He's currently in surgery right now…"

"I'm going to be on the next flight out; I just have to call my husband. Let Nicky know I'm coming, please. Keep me updated please." She said through her tears.

* * *

Brass sat down across from Stevens as he picked at his cuffs. The man didn't look nervous or anxious or any of the sorts. He looked quiet cool and relaxed. Stevens smiled at Brass as he adjusted his position in the seat. Brass had a look of pure disgust on his face for Stevens.

"So, why did you shoot CSI Stokes?" Brass said folding his hands together rubbing his knuckles. Stevens remained silent. "Come on, big man! You were caught you walked right up to him and shot him. You wanted to be caught, why?!"

"Stop yelling at my client. He has nothing to say." Steven's lawyer said only further aggravating Brass.

"Nothing to say? What a coward…" Brass said and Stevens immediately stifled a laugh as he picked his head up to look at Brass.

"Your friend thought I was a coward too. It didn't work out to well for him. Last, I saw your friend was struggling to breathe, choking on his own blood. Panicking because he couldn't move his legs, I could see the fear in his eyes as his blood drained out of him… and I'm the coward?"

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Thank you for such a great response for the first chapter. Please tell me what you think here? Please Review!


	3. Happy Reunion

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review!

* * *

Happy Reunion

* * *

Caroline stares at her shaky hands, she had no more tears and the fear she was feeling was almost unbearable. She looked at her phone knowing that even if DB tried to call he wouldn't be able to get through because her phone was off. All Caroline hoped for was that Nick would be alright or… that he'd at least wait for her to get there. She couldn't even ponder the thought that her brother might not pull through. Her big brother had always been there for her, if she needed anything he was only a phone call away. She looked out the window as she rubbed her face as memories of their childhood flooded her.

_Nick and Carrie were only fourteenth months apart, and spent a lot of their time together growing up. With both their parents constantly working and being passed to members of the help to play babysitters. Carrie sits next to her parents excited. The room began to fill quite quickly as the ceremony was about to start soon. She couldn't wait to see Nick in his uniform, she had drove four hours from her college to see this. Meanwhile, the whole time the Chief of Police was talking Carrie was subtly making strange faces at Nick to break his straight face. Nick winked at her as he thought a smile. This was their first time seeing each other in almost four months._

"… _I present the newest class of fine police officers of the Dallas Police Department." The chief said as everyone erupted in applause. After the initial congratulations from his mother and the judge. Nick smiled feeling accomplished and excited to see his family._

"_Congratulations, Nicholas." Nick's mom said hugging him._

"_Thanks ma." Nick said fighting a smile._

"_Good work, Poncho." The judge said shaking Nick's hand. After some small talk his parents flooded around being the socialites that they are. Nick and Carrie were finally able to talk._

"_Congratulations Johnny Law." Carrie said punching her brother jokingly in the arm._

"_Thanks, Carrie." Nick said hugging his younger sister._

"_So how long should I wait before I call you to get me out of a ticket?" Carrie teased smiling. Nick laughed. "But for real, congrats." Carrie said feeling proud._

_A few years later... with everyone off in their own directions in life. Nick and Carrie's relationship changed as their adulthood lives set in. they only saw each other at family get togethers and occasion lunch dates. They both chose to live still kind of close to home and could visit each other whether they wanted. The occasion this time was the annual Christmas party. The party was over and Nick and Carrie were picking up for their parents as they talked with their aunts and uncles._

"_Hey, care, I gotta talk to you." Nick said as he put the last of the dishes away. Carrie grabbed her eggnog and went to the small table in their kitchen as Nick joined her._

"_What's up, Nicky?" Carrie said smiling._

"_I heard back from the Crime Lab out in Las Vegas." Nick said slightly excited but weary of what his sister would think._

"_And?" Carrie said excited._

"_I got the job. They want me to fly out there and start as soon as I can." Nick said excited. Carrie's face immediately lit up for excitement for her brother. She pretended to be excited but in all actuality she felt a strange mix of emotions. She was happy for him but she was sad and worried, she heard only terrible things of Vegas and she knew she would miss Nick terribly. Carrie didn't know what she would do, she had never not had her brother there for her._

* * *

When the plane finally lands she rushes off grabbing her carry on the only thing that she brought. She was still worried and wondered who was going to be picking her up. She just wanted to have an update; she wanted to know how he was. Carrie silently prayed that she wasn't too late.

"Mrs. Goode?" she heard a younger man with spiky blonde hair say.

"Yes, please call me Carrie." She said shaking his hand. She had a small subtle southern accent.

"Hi, I'm Greg Sanders. I'm going to bring you to the hospital." Greg said taking her bag for her.

"Please, Greg. Tell me how he is doing?" Carrie said grabbing Greg's arm stopping him from walking away. It had been about three and a half hours since DB had first called her.

"He's still in surgery," Greg said studying the woman's face. "Come on…"

She looked like the female version of Nick except she was smaller. She had light brown short hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and a pair of small black frame glasses that housed her stunning green eyes. She wore a worn gray zip up with a pair of equally worn jeans. Her eyes were slightly swollen and red from crying, and her hands still shook a little.

* * *

DB lays out Nick's belongings hoping trying to gather an idea of what had happened. Nick's clothes were soaked in his own blood. DB studied the burns around the entrance wound as he also emptied out Nick's pockets finding all sorts of stuff. Hodges and Sara come in and watch DB for a moment waiting for direction.

"Have you got any word on Nick?" Sara asked bracing herself against the table unable t look at Nick's bloody clothes.

"He's still in surgery. Sara, why don't you go to Nick's and see if there's anything there that can help us find a motive. I have Morgan searching Stevens' place now. Greg just picked up Nick's next of kin and then he's going to search the crime scene." DB said taking his gloves off. Sara nodded.

"Call me if anything changes." Sara says leaving.

"What do you have there, boss?" Hodges asked looking at Nick's shirt seeing the burns.

"It looks like Stevens walked right up to Nick and shot him." DB said puzzled.

"That's what all the witness' statements said." Hodges added and DB just nodded. He looked at Nick's pocket contents. Nick's wallet, his knife, some loose change, his phone, and a bloody ATM receipt.

"Hodges, process this for me. Have Archie dump Nick's phone for me." DB said handing him the receipt, as his phone began buzzing. "I gotta go. Nick's sister is at the hospital."

When DB arrives at the Hospital he finds Brass arriving as well. Brass looks puzzled, DB knew that this case would be pushing everyone to the limit and maybe that just had not set in on DB yet. He liked to think that maybe he was maintaining for the sake of the emotionally compromised team.

"Stevens won't talk. He's a sick man." Brass said as they got into the elevator. DB nodded as he braced himself for Nick's sister. He didn't know what to expect. AS soon as he got to the waiting room he saw Nick's sister sitting next to Mandy. Carrie walked to DB wiping her eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Goode. I'm DB Russell, I wish we could be meeting under different circumstances." DB introduced.

"You and I both, please call me Carrie." She said, DB opened his mouth to speak but Carrie interrupted him, as a few tears sneaked out. "Please, tell me you have the man who did this to my brother."

"Yes, he's in custody."

"Why? Why did he shoot my brother?!" she cried.

"We don't know." DB said trying to console a distraught Carrie.

"Russell?" The police surgeon said coming from the restrictive area. DB and Carrie both turned to the doctor.

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Please Review! What do you think?


	4. Strength

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review!

* * *

Strength

* * *

DB and Carrie sat down in a different room across from the exhausted police surgeon. In Seattle, DB only had a couple run ins with the police but here in Vegas he's already matched his previous number in the short time he's been here. DB had a nervous pit in his stomach. Carrie looked to be in a daze as she faced the only person that had any information about her brother's current condition. While, she hoped that this man would tell her that Nick was alright and waiting for her in recovery but as she studied the older man's face she knew better.

The man reminded her of her father with his salty gray hair slightly astray. The wrinkles that framed his eyes and mouth, were deep and showed the man's wisdom and his hardship. His eyes gray almost shielding himself from the troubles that lead ahead with the job. This hadn't been the first time he had dealt with tragedy with the grave shift team and it wasn't his first time handling matters with Nick either.

"Hello, ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Harvey the police surgeon for Clark County. The injuries that CSI Stokes suffered are quite serious. Right now, we are fixing the internal bleeding, I believe he will be in surgery for the next few hours. When the bullet entered in ricocheted off his sternum breaking into fragments. We've been able to extract some of the smaller parts but I'm afraid that the largest fragment moved to close to his spine. Right now, his spine is too swollen so we are unable to remove. We have a specialist coming down but because we don't know the extent of the damage to his spine, we are going to wait for the specialist, but right now, Mr. Stokes is the sickest man in the hospital." The surgeon said, releasing a deep sigh, reading his pager and leaving.

"Oh Nicky…" Carrie crying into her hands. Carrie breaks down into sobs. She thought that any news would be good news but she was wrong, she realized that the only news she wanted to hear was anything that Nick would say. She needed to hear that he was alright from him, she would not believe it if it came from anyone else.

"Carrie…" DB said almost fatherly.

"Mr. Russell, I need some air. I have to call my mom." She said pushing him away coming outside to get some fresh air. DB followed her into the main waiting room before she got away from her. DB looked and faced his team and their nervous hopeful eyes.

"How's… how's Nick?" Mandy asked swallowing hard scared of what DB was going to say especially seeing such an emotional reaction from Nick's sister.

"He's… he's not doing so good. Carrie… Carrie's worried." DB said taking his glasses over rubbing his eyes, feeling the stress of all the events finally starting to hit him.

"I'll go check on her." Mandy said shellshock giving DB's arm a reassuring pat as she left to follow Carrie.

* * *

Greg was processing the scene starting first with Stevens' car. He looks in the glove box which usually housed some great evidence. Greg found a new box of bullets that still had its price tag on it. Greg continued to look inside pulling out a tethered photo.

"What do we have here?" Greg asked himself. He looked at the photo and it looked to be a family photo with Stevens and who Greg believed to be Stevens' wife or girlfriend and possibly their child. Greg made a face as he secured the photo and bullets. Greg turned his attention to the back seat, and it looked like Stevens had been almost living in the backseat of his car, and then Greg noticed a dent in the backseat one that resembled a car seat imprint.

* * *

Morgan opens the door to Stevens home. Officer Mitchell cleared the residence and it soon became evident that Stevens didn't live alone. Morgan looked at the photos on the wall and saw the same woman and child. Morgan immediately took out her phone and called Finn.

"Finn, can you look up and see if Stevens is married or has any children?" Morgan asked feeling like she was onto something.

"Yes, hold on…" Finn said, Morgan hears Finn typing away on her computer. "Yes, Gary Stevens married a Kendra Branson in 2009. They have a five year old daughter, Sophie together." Morgan takes the information and searches the home finding nothing really useful which surprised her.

The small home was messy obviously lived in. there were dishes in the sink, toys laying astray, and little snacks everywhere. Morgan remembered her grandmother always saying that it was impossible to keep the house clean with all the kids running around touching everything. Morgan made a face realizing that the home truly was empty and saw that some of the Sophie clothes, toys, and blankets were missing. Morgan went to the neighbors hoping that they would be able to shed some light on this dimly lit room.

"Hello, sir, I'm CSI Brody with LVPD. What can you tell me about your neighbors?" she asked politely as she put forth a winning smile.

"Who? The Stevens?" the man asked opening his door.

"Yes."

"The dude is crazy." The man asked trying to shut the door but Morgan stopped him.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"I like my face the way it is, thanks." He said trying again.

"One last thing, have you seen his wife or child?" she asked.

"No, psycho runs a tight ship." He said slamming the door shut.

* * *

Brass slowly sat down across from Stevens with a slight smirk on his face. The room fell silent as neither man spoke as Stevens' attorney fidgeted nervously in his seat, unsure of what to do or say. The poor legal aid attorney was in way over his head.

"Where's your wife and daughter?" Brass asked but the man remained silent as the lawyer looked nervous. "Stokes banging your girl?"

"Captain, my client has nothing to say." The lawyer said seeing his client's demeanor instantly change.

"Come on, what did she run away with him?" Brass asked smiling at him but Stevens just got angrier. Stevens just fidgeted almost nervously or growing agitated with Brass' words and accusations. "Where is your wife and daughter?" Brass said cutting directly to the point.

"Ask Stokes! Oh wait… you can't. So leave me to rot in my cell, I have nothing else to say. Cop killer has a nice ring to it." Stevens screamed angry at Brass.

* * *

Nick's in trouble, will he pull through? Can the team remain strong as the life of one of their on hang's in the balance? Please Review!


	5. Calling Dr Flowerstein

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review!

* * *

Calling Dr. Flowerstein

* * *

Mandy walked through the door of the hospital and let the breeze ease some of her stress. Every time she closed her eyes it brought her back to the diner seeing Nick struggle for his words and each breathe. Mandy shook her as she scanned the common area and parking lot searching for Carrie. Mandy turned and saw Carrie pacing around a bench running her finger through her hair. Her mannerisms and gait was almost exactly the same as Nick's. Mandy made a face fighting a small smile before walking over. Mandy rested against the bench.

"Carrie…" Mandy said but did not know what to say.

"You wanna hear the last thing my brother said to me before this all happened?" Carrie asked upset as she started tapping away on her phone to bring it up. Carrie wiped her eyes.

Mandy sighed mentally preparing to hear an argumentative angry voicemail from Nick. She assumed that there was an unresolved problem between the brother and sister duo. Mandy did not know what to say to her to make her feel better. Mandy and Nick were friends, and even though she did feel there was some unfinished business between them, she had the reassurance that if Nick did pass at least they were in good standing with each other, she hoped that the feeling could be shared with Carrie as well.

"Hello, Mrs. Goode, this is Dr. Flowerstein calling in regards to your inguinal rash. It is contagious and if the burning continues, you should…" Nick said masking his accent but failing as he busted out in laughter. "Hey, it's your favorite brother. I was just calling to see how everyone is doing. I know school just started I wanted to see how Anthony's doing. We're working on some real tough cases right now, so… it'd be good to hear from you guys. Love ya, bye." Nick said a little gloomy as it beeped.

"Thank you for sharing that with me." Mandy said wiping her own eyes. It was so great to hear Nick's voice and it gave her a new found hope that he would recover.

"Nick, talks about you a lot." Carrie said wiping her eyes as she put her phone away. "He says that you guys' are like best friends." Carrie said sitting down on the bench and Mandy quickly sat down next to her.

"How are you holding up?" Mandy asked as Carrie sat there just a bundle of nerves.

"Not very well… I'm scared. I'm trying to be strong for Nick because he's always been strong for me but it's really hard." Carrie said wiping her eyes again as she whimpered.

"Yeah, he makes it look easy." Mandy said smiling. "Let's go back inside." Mandy said trying to be as upbeat as she can but knowing all too well how serious the situation was and she didn't want to be insensitive.

As they walked inside the hospital and headed back up to the waiting room where they had been calling their home. However they needed to take a pit stop or Carrie needed to take a pit stop. She felt hopeless, helpless, and desperate all wrapped up into one. With all the reassuring words from her husband and son, and Nick's friends, she felt no relief. She almost felt guilty. Carrie headed towards the chapel and Mandy followed. Carrie sat down into the lonely chapel and broke down in tears. Mandy joined Carrie in tears and in the chapel.

* * *

Sara unlocked Nick's door as she entered his house. Sam came running to her from Nick's bedroom excited to see her. Sara smiled bracing herself for all of Sam's affection. Sara took a quick scan of the kitchen and living room from the doorway.

"Hey Sam, are you hungry?" Sara said petting a happy Sam. Sara filled his dish and began to look around. She looked around and she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Sara took a quick peek in the garbage because it usually had something good in it for the CSIs.

"What's this?" she says pulling out one of Nick's t-shirt from the garbage. She looked at the shirt trying to figure out why Nick through it away. She noticed some blood on the right cuff and on the neck hole and front of the shirt. Not a lot but enough to raise some flags.

Sara went to Nick's bedroom hoping to find something else as Sam looked with her. She scanned the room taking a few photos. His bedroom was clean and his bed looked slept in as it lay unmade. She used the black light investigating her own theory that Nick and Kendra were romantically involved, but the bed showed no evidence to support, and with the rest of room. Sara checked his laundry room and found nothing.

Sara went to the living room and looked around, she found an earring on his coffee table which was not as alarming as it could've been especially given Nick's reputation but Sara knew better and bagged and tagged it. She looked at the nearby couch and used the tape lift to pull up any hairs, aside from Sam's hair she did find some others. Sara sat down on the couch sad feeling helpless knowing it would take days to sort through the hairs, when Stevens' wife and daughter could be in danger. Sam came and sat next to her putting his head on her lap.

"Oh Sam, I wish you could talk." Sara said petting his head. "Do you know Kendra and Sophie are?" Sam peaked his head up and jumped off the couch and went digging underneath barking. Sara got off the couch and looked underneath the couch to see what had Sam's attention. She saw a small child's doll under the couch. She grabbed it and looked at the back and saw a small tag that read _property of SOPHIE_. Sara's face dropped as she ordered Akers to make sure that the house clear as she took the cushions off. She knew from previous times that Nick's couch was infamous for taking things. She found a child's hair barrette, and her stomach dropped unsure how to interrupt her new findings.

"Sara, no one is here. " Officer Akers said. Sara did one final sweep of the house but there were no signs of anyone else living there. There were barely any sides that Nick lived there. However like many of CSIs they didn't spend a lot of their time home, and a lot of their social life still involved something work related.

"Akers, I gotta go. DB called a meeting." Sara said reading the text message that DB sent her. As she left Nick's house she saw Nick's neighbors starting to come out and look out at them. A woman leaves the group and walks towards Sara as she was loading the evidence in the Tahoe.

"Excuse me?" the woman said unsure how to approach Sara.

"Yes, ma'am." Sara said.

"My name is Flo. Nick and I have been neighbors for years. I saw what happened to Nick on the news. How is he doing?" Flo asked nervously.

"Last I heard he was still in surgery." Sara said fighting her own emotions. "Have you seen out of the ordinary at Nick's in the last few days?" Sara asked.

"Actually, you know what, yes. A couple days ago, there was a car that came through very quickly. I looked out my window, because there are kids in the neighborhood, when I looked out I saw the car come to a screeching stop and a man throws a brick through Nick's window. I heard a child scream so I hid and when I looked out the window and saw Nick run out with his gun. I went out and asked if everything was alright. He said it was, and went back inside. A few hours later he left."

"Could you describe the car?" Sara asked.

"I can do you one better." Flo said taking out her phone showing Sara a photo of the Stevens' car with a full license plate. "Living next to a CSI all these years teaches you to be a little more observant."

* * *

All the CSIs gathered in the observation room with all the evidence on display. They all argue their own theories but even with the evidence that they had it wasn't enough and definitely not enough to make a strong enough theory in a case with this magnitude.

"I was able to process the ATM receipt that was in Nick's pocket. It showed a withdraw of six hundred dollars. I checked the contents of Nick's wallet and I only found about forty two dollars in his wallet." Hodges said as he came in the observation room.

"Where'd the rest of the money go?" DB said to himself.

"So if the theory is that Nick and Kendra are having an affair and that's why Stevens' shot him where's the evidence to support it?" Finn said.

"I found no evidence at Nick's that supports a sexual relationship between the two. I did find evidence that they were there, though. No matter what theory we come up with, we need to find out where Kendra and Sophie. We saw what Stevens' did to Nick, I can only imagine what he would do to them especially if he thought something was going on with Nick." Sara said as DB's phone started to ring.

"Sara, have Brass put out an APB for Kendra and Sophie. Let's hope that someone's seen them." DB said as he looked at his phone. "It's the Police Surgeon. He wants to meet with me."

* * *

Please Review! What do you think?


	6. Recovery

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review!

* * *

Recovery

* * *

DB gets there and goes to where Carrie and the Police Surgeon are, because of Nick's injuries it was important that they were both present. DB felt like his nerves were on fire he didn't know what to expect and that did not sit well with him. He felt the mixture of nerves as get stronger as he sat down next to Carrie across from the Police Surgeon. Carrie immediately grabbed DB's hand for support.

"Okay, we've fixed the internal bleeding, but we don't know how his brain weathered and there could be further damage and we won't be able to tell until he recovers more. The same goes for his spine. The larger fragment of the bullet is too close to his spine as I said before. The specialist should be here in the morning to figure out what the next step will be. Right now, he is showing signs of paralysis from his navel down. Mr. Stokes, is stable at this time and is being moved to the ICU." Lieutenant Harvey said rubbing his hands together. Carrie released a deep sigh, relieved that Nick had made it but then saddened by the extent of his injuries.

"Is he awake?" Carrie asked wiping the tears away.

"No, right now. We have him in a medically induced coma," Harvey said looking at Carrie as she tried to control her emotions. "Unfortunately, Mr. Russell, only family can visit with him. When you are ready Mrs. Goode, I will walk you back." He said.

"Thank you, Mr. Russell." She said looking at DB. She looked at Harvey and nodded.

"Let's go." Harvey said leading her.

Carrie followed LT Harvey throughout the hospital, she saw other families dealing with similar situations as her own. She remembered something her grandmother told her when her grandfather was sick. _Hospital walls hear more prayers than church walls, and airports see more genuine kisses than at weddings. _She never realized how true her words were until this whole thing started, she saw couples be reunited in the airport and said more prayer in her time at the hospital for Nick than her entire childhood when their family brought them to church.

"He's in here." Harvey said motioning to the opening to Nick's room. Carrie nodded and slowly entered Nick's room. She saw him laying still as a machine breathed for him. The room was silent with the EKG monitor making a beeping noise and the ventilator. Nick laid motionless on his back.

"Hey Nicky…" she whispered holding his cool hand. She squeezed his hand with no response. She tries to stifle a cry as she pulled out an old photo album from her purse. "Nicky, I brought something… from home. I hoped that maybe when you wake up we could look at it together." She said upset as she wiped her eyes.

"I remember when mama would get these hobbies. Like scrapbooking…" Carrie said putting the scrapbook, still holding his hand. She couldn't bring herself to open it with Nick in the state he was in. "I remember how we would tease mama because she would invest all her free time in them, but now that I look back, I couldn't be happier that she did those. The one I got is the one mama made of your senior year." She said finally opening it, hoping that it would maybe help Nick want to come to or at least make her feel better.

However when she opened up the old book all the memories from the photos hit her like a sucker punch in the mouth. She chuckles to herself when she sees a photo of Nick when his teammates dumped the water on him in celebration. The photo was perfectly timed showing the shock on his face.

"Remember, when you…" Carrie said but she paused looking at Nick. She hoped he would join in on the story but seeing the tube in his mouth made her realize that he wouldn't be joining in anytime soon. With the flood of memories that washed over her came with a reciprocating wind of emotions as she pushed the book aside and held Nick's hand tight with both of hers and sobbed. She felt sadness that made her feel like a child as she watched him lay motionless. It was like someone took a piece of her but when they returned it, it was broken, or it was damaged.

* * *

Finn and the hospital security guard walked up to DB as he lay next to his truck with some of the case files lying astray next to him. DB stared at the ceiling stuck in deep thought as he starting contemplating all his decisions, the case and life itself.

"I got him, thanks." Finn said to the confused security guard. Finn walked up looking down at DB as he released a deep sigh. "What are you doing, DB?"

"Thinking… you know my family very apprehensive about coming here. This city eats people alive." he said scratching his head as he put his glasses back on.

"DB, you are laying down in the parking garage." Finn said sitting next to him.

"Nick took out six hundred dollars from the ATM but we only found about forty dollars where'd the rest go?" DB said still staring off.

"I remember that, Nick and Mandy went out to eat and we all went out to drink after the verdict."

"Still, I know how much Nick eats but I doubt he spent five hundred dollars in food. We need to find Kendra and Sophie and the BOLO has kicked back nothing. It's like they vanished." DB said still looking off. Finn was worried she had never seen DB so down, after everything that had happened in the last couple months had finally caught up with him. "Archie found nothing on Nick's phone. Nick must have hid them well, or Stevens' already got his hands on them."

"Do you know where the ATM that he hit?" Finn said and DB handed her the paper with the location of ATM. "DB, there's a women's shelter a block away from this ATM." DB immediately jumped to his feet and dialed up Brass, as Finn stood up.

"Brass, its DB, see if there's ever been a domestic disturbance reported at the Stevens' residence." DB said waiting for Brass to respond as he and Finn went to his truck to go to the shelter.

"Units have been dispatched several times but because Kendra wasn't the one to call, according to reports she never had any visible marks and she never filed a report against him. So he was never brought and never arrested."

"Thanks Jim." DB said.

Once they got to the shelter they could see the ATM that Nick had used. Once they were inside the shelter there were several women in different stages of emotional abuse. DB and Finn immediately found the director of the shelter.

"Hello, ma'am, I'm CSI supervisor Russell, and this is CSI Finlay with the Las Vegas Crime lab. Have you seen this woman, her name Kendra Stevens?" DB asked, and the director instantly made a face without looking at the photo of Kendra.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Russell I can't tell you. I'm bound by confidentiality." She said showing her tag as Director and Psychiatrist.

"They're missing, and could be in danger…" Finn argued.

"I know, I saw their picture on the news. But my hands are tied."

"What about this man?" DB said showing her a picture of Nick.

"This is CSI Stokes, he's a good man. I've worked with him on several cases." She said handing Nick's photo back.

"When's the last time you saw him?" DB asked.

"He was here yesterday, looking for a doll. I wish I could tell you more but my hands are tied. I'm sorry." The director said grimacing, Nick was a friend of hers and she truly did want to help but her hands were tied. If word got out that she was disclosing locations no one would ever come for help.

DB and Finn left frustrated. DB took out his phone planning on calling the DA to get a warrant or something to force to force the director's hand. Finn scanned the area hoping that something would jump out at her, and steer her in the right direction.

"Excuse me…" they heard a shy voice behind them say.

"Yes?" Finn said as DB talked with the DA.

"Is what you said about Kendra true? Is she in trouble?" the woman with a terrible black eye said.

"Yes, has she been here?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, a man dropped her off a day after I got here, maybe two or three days ago."

"This man?" Finn asked showing her a picture of Nick.

"Yes, but she's not here anymore. A night ago, Kendra got really spooked and called this guy and he came and took them, I heard him tell her that there was a motel nearby that he was going to bring them too." She said nervously.

"Thank you, come on DB." Finn said grabbing DB's arm.

* * *

Is the team onto something? What do you think? Please Review!


	7. Secrets

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review!

* * *

Secrets

* * *

Mandy lied to gain access to Nick's room. The doctor only allowed family in Nick's ICU room. When she walks inside she sees Carrie asleep in the chair next to Nick's bed and she see Nick in the same state as Carrie did. The room still just as quiet, with only the machines that were keeping Nick alive making some noise. Mandy went up to Nick and held his hand and kissed his forehead, trying to maintain her sadness as memories of the shooting flooded her head, she felt heartbroken. She looked and saw a photo album tucked under his arm. She heard Carrie chuckle a little.

"How'd you get in here?" Carrie asked looking at Mandy as she wiped her eyes.

"I told the front desk I was his cousin," Mandy said chuckling a little. "I brought your bag, in case you wanted to change clothes. Greg said you left it in his truck."

"Thank you." Carrie said smiling. Before the ladies' could talk anymore Lieutenant Harvey and another doctor came in.

"Mrs. Goode, this is Dr. Wesley, the spinal specialist." Harvey introduced, the man shook Carrie's hand.

"Hello." Wesley said he had a strange accent also like he was from New Orleans.

"Hello."

"I wanted to let you know that I've looked at the x-rays, and read your brother's chart. I believe that the last fragment of the bullet is resting between his T12 and his L1. His vertebrae themselves are bruised but intact; however I am unsure about his spinal cord. We will know more once the swelling goes down." Wesley said quite sure of himself. "This is my specialty, I understand you will be nervous but if your brother has made it this far, don't worry he will be alright." Wesley said taking a hold of Carrie's hand.

"Mrs. Goode, the nurses are going to come in shortly and prep him for surgery." Harvey said.

The strange doctor gave Carrie and Mandy a new sense of hold, while they were apprehensive about his cockiness. Wesley was the only one in the whole situation who seemed sure of himself and had a plan in this mix of chaos. Carrie just hoped that she didn't misplace her trust.

* * *

They jumped in DB's truck and began cruising down the road looking for the motel that had an infamous reputation as _Hoes' Ave_. As they pulled into the parking lot many of the classy lady's quickly left, and scattered.

"Hello, sir, I'm CSI Russell and this…" DB stopped realizing that the person at the front desk was asleep. Finn sighed going out to talk to the women before they all dispersed.

"Nothing's going on here, officers. We are just hanging out." One of the working girls said.

"We are not looking to bust anyone, gather your girls around we are looking for information." DB said, and the woman motioned for the girls to come gather around. "Have you seen this man?" DB asked showing the leading working girl, Cinnamon, Nick's photo.

"That's Nicky," Cinnamon said.

"How do you know Nick?" Finn asked surprised.

"He's one of you. Don't worry he's not a customer… not that I would complain. He still looks at us as humans and not throw aways." Cinnamon said.

"When's the last time you've seen him?" Finn asked, and Cinnamon's face changed.

"Girls, give me a minute to talk to the police." Cinnamon said as the girls left. "I know why y'all are here."

"You see Nick with this woman?" Finn asked showing Cinnamon a picture of Kendra. Cinnamon nodded.

"Nicky gave me a hundred bucks to watch the door and call him if he saw this guy." She said showing them a picture of Stevens'. Cinnamon led them to the nearby door. DB knocks on the door and they heard whimpering behind the door.

"Kendra, my name is DB Russell, I work with Nick Stokes." DB said.

"Please go away." She cried from the other side of the door.

"I want to make sure you are okay. Let me bring you and Sophie to the police station." DB says but gets no response. "Nick has been shot. Let me help you." DB pleads and after what feels like an eternity the dirty door finally creaks open.

* * *

"Why have you been here the whole time with me?" Carrie asked Mandy. Mandy was caught off guard and nervously picked at her coffee cup.

"I'm just a lab tech." Mandy said trying to downplay her importance at the lab.

"Nick says you are the best." Carrie says as Mandy smiles. "Were you there when he was shot?"

"Yeah…" Mandy said picking at her cup again.

"You wanna see something?" Carrie said after a long pause, she pulled out the same photo album that she had brought with her.

"Sure…"

"Our mama would get these hobbies, anything except spend time with her kids, anyway. She made this scrapbook of Nick's senior year of high school." Carrie said opening the book.

"Were you a cheerleader?" Mandy asked seeing Nick in a football uniform and Carrie in a cheerleader uniform.

"Absolutely," she giggled. This was a positive way for the ladies to spend their time as Nick was in surgery. "Nick was a great football player. He was the captain, and starting running back for the second year in a row, one of the best in the state at the time... This was from his senior night game." Carrie said showing her a photo of the family. Nick was smiling holding the game ball covered in grass stains.

"I knew Nick played football, but never that he was so good. Why did he play college baseball then?" Mandy asked still looking at the photo album but Carrie shut it as her demeanor changed as her guard went up and she shut down in a similar way that Nick did in stressful situations. Just as Mandy is going to ask Carrie about the change DB comes in.

"How's Nick?" DB asked as he came in.

"He's in surgery with the specialist now." Carrie said with a new fire lit underneath her, as she stood up to talk to DB. "I need an update, Mr. Russell. I've stayed out of the way and let you do your job but no one has told me anything."

"We believe that Nick was helping a woman get away from her husband and the husband shot him for it."

"That's it? Mr. Russell, I know my brother and I don't think he would just stick his neck out for anyone. Who was is this woman?" Carrie demanded not convinced by DB's answer.

"We believe that the woman was in an abusive relationship, and your brother was helping her find a way out, for her daughter. He was waiting for a bus ticket to come through, and her husband went looking for them and when he couldn't find them… He shot Nick." DB said as Carrie's face fell as tears immediately flooded her eyes. She puts up her hand to stop him as her emotions totally engulf her. She put her hands on the back of her head trying to grasp everything that was just said to her. She had to get away from everyone as she started to lose control of emotions.

* * *

Please Review! I haven't forgotten about you, don't forget about me please. What do you think?


	8. Fighter

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI

Please Review! Thank you for all the new followers!

* * *

Fighter

* * *

Finn hands Sophie a juice box as the child played with her baby doll, as Brass studied Kendra carefully. Kendra still held Sophie tight as she was still a little shellshock about the whole ordeal. She had been secluded in the dirty motel room with no television; she had no idea that her beloved husband had shot Nick. Finn studied the shaken woman seeing her in a different light made Finn realize that the woman was familiar.

"You look familiar?" Finn asked knowing that her instinct was spot on.

"I used to be a bartender at O'Malley's. That's where I met Nick; he's been a regular as of late. He saw the way that Gary treat me…" Kendra said rolling up her sleeves showing Finn and Brass her bruises.

* * *

_Nick sat at the bar nursing one of several drinks he had since he had gotten there. However it was the stage of night where he needed to decide what he was doing take a cab or drive. He knew he shouldn't drive but he should've ordered another drink either. Kendra gave Nick a glass of water as he continue to drink his scotch._

"_Goodnight, Nick." She said as she checked her phone and left. Nick just waved her off as he paid more attention to the other bartender, to whom he had been harassing all night. Nick smiled as he watched the TV. After a short while he decided against driving home as he left the bar paying his tab._

"_Doo, everything that kills me makes me feel alive…__ baby, I been, I been praying hard… Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars… Lately I been, I been losing sleep," Nick drunkenly sang to himself. He started to bob his head to his own tune. However in his slight drunken stupor he couldn't remember most of the lyrics. He hit the button on his keys to lock his door forgetting that he needed to get the batteries changed._

"_Damn…" he mumbled to himself as he struggled to lock the doors manually but just as he was going to lock them he dropped his keys. He braced himself against his car as he reached down to grab his keys. He felt his CSI senses tingle as he could have sworn he heard whimpering from the alleyway. He sobered up a little as he went to the alleyway investigating the noise. He heard a hard whack or a smacking noise._

"_You think you can just do whatever you want?!" a man yelled as he turned the corner he saw a man throw Kendra down._

"_Gary, I'm sorry." She cried, as he yanked her back on her feet. Without hesitation Nick immediately ran and pushed Stevens down tripping and falling on the man. The men begin to wrestle unable to really hammer away at each other. Kendra did her best to crawl away and get to her feet. Nick slams Stevens against the dumpster punching him in the stomach. Kendra pulls Nick away seeing him get the upper hand._

"_Stop it! Stop it!" she cried pulling Nick as he pushed Stevens away. The strange momentum change caused Nick to stumble and fall against Kendra. "Go! Just leave, Gary!" she cried out as Gary ran off. Nick wiped the blood from his nose getting some on his shirt. Once the coast was clear Nick got to his feet helping Kendra up._

"_Kendra, what was that?"Nick demanded, but she remained quiet. "Does this happen a lot?" Nick asked she just cried wiping her eyes and nodded slightly._

"_Nick, I gotta get home… I have to get Sophie." She said frantically. "If he gets her before I do…" Nick nodded._

"_Let me bring y'all somewhere safe." Nick pleaded, and she nodded trusting him._

* * *

"Nick brought us to his house so he could and then someone threw a brick in his window as he was getting us ready to move us to the shelter. The shelter was great… then I saw Gary's car drive by and I knew he found us and I called Nick to get us out. He brought us to that _dinky_ motel." Kendra said stroking Sophie's hair.

"So, Nick just helped you? What was the extent of your relationship?" Brass asked suspicious.

"We weren't sleeping with each other if that's what you're really asking." Kendra defended. "There was a time when Nick would flirt relentlessly but once I told him that I was married he eased up. He was always sweet and never inappropriate, and respected the fact that I was married. He would tell me how lucky he thought Gary was."

"Nick said he would keep us safe." Sophie said smiling. "He has a nice dog, his name is Sam."

"He said that he would do whatever he could to keep us safe. I was so scared when he brought us to _hoes lane._ He assured me that he'd be back to check on us and that no one would look there and he was right. The ladies were really nice too." Kendra said feeling guilty.

* * *

Mandy and DB followed the overwhelmed and emotional Carrie into the other waiting room. Carrie looked frustrated with herself as she struggled to keep her emotions together; her mannerisms were similar to Nick's when Nick was at his breaking point.

"Carrie, is everything alright?" Mandy asked confused by Carrie's dramatic emotional change.

"This is my fault…" Carrie mumbled to herself as she continued to pace around before finally sitting as she buried her head in her hands.

"What do you mean?" DB asked this whole investigation he felt like they were a several steps behind everyone. DB just hoped he wasn't wrong on the motive hoping that they finally decoded it.

"When… I…" she starts but her emotions and tears keep interrupting her. After a long pause she takes a deep breath and composes herself. "It was in high school. Nick was the star football player of the team, I was a cheerleader. Nick was ranked in the top ten in the state; our team was predicted to win the state championship. He had division 1 big name colleges look at him." she said pausing to wipe her eyes.

"I thought Nick played college baseball?" DB asked confused.

"He did… I was dating one of Nick's teammates. One night after practice he and I got into an argument because I thought he wanted to go to the senior night after party with someone else. Next thing I knew he slapped me, and grabbed my arm and threw me down. I was so scared I just stayed there as he walked away. Shortly later Nick came and saw me; I could see in his face that he knew what had happened. I begged him not to tell our parents." Carrie cried.

"Why?" DB asked again.

"I didn't want to damage my parents' reputation. I was too scared of getting in trouble and having my parents mad at me. I didn't want the five minutes that my parents were home, I didn't want them to be mad and ignore me…" she said like a broken teenager. "The next day was the first game for state championship, we were ranked number 1 for our area and were playing some no name team, and we were expected to blow them out of the water. Except, Nick's head wasn't in the game, he fumbled, he couldn't catch anything, and the coach pulled him. I remember seeing Nick go to the water cooler and my boyfriend went out to him. They started arguing, and started fighting. Our whole bench had to break them up. Nick was suspended from school, and kicked off the team. All the schools stopped calling and the talks of scholarships stopped. Not to mention, he was grounded for a few months until he turned 18, and my parents acted like he was Satan for a little while. I talked to him afterwards and he said he'd do it again, he didn't regret it, and he never told anyone. His life could've been so different." Carrie said wiping her eyes.

"Mrs. Goode?" The specialist said coming into the room with them as the police surgeon followed.

* * *

Please Review! What do you think?


	9. Liability

Friday Night Lights  
Disclaimer: Don't Own CSI.  
Please Review! Sorry about the wait, but I've been very busy. I know that the information regarding Nick's family maybe a little iffy but in the show they've never really gone in depth with his family or his past. But anyway just hang with me.

* * *

Liability

* * *

"_Griffin, go get Stokes!" The coach said pushing the substitute it. "Stokes! Get your ass over here!" he yelled throwing his play papers. Nick ran off the field hanging his head, ashamed that he was playing so terrible. "What has gotten into you kid? I know you can play better, I know your head isn't in the game." The coach said grabbing Nick's shoulders forcing Nick to let at him._

"_I don't know…" Nick said looking down, still ashamed._

"_Well, you let me know when you are ready to play football?" the coach said angry and disappointed, as he motioned for Nick to leave his sight._

_Nick shook his head disappointed. His mind was racing and his hands just shook with rage. He looked over and saw Carrie in a similar state as she faked a smile cheering for Nick's lackadaisical effort on the football field. Nick scanned the crowd as he fixed himself a cup of cold water after giving the waterboy a look that could kill. He saw his parents in the stands just as disappointed as his coach._

_Great, he thought, the five minutes that he would be spending with his parents they would be mad at him for not being the picture perfect all star football player that they had dreamed for him to be. Nick sighed as he crinkled his cup before even getting a sip. The pressure of trying to be this wannabe perfect family had him at his breaking point. He wanted to help Carrie but not at the cost of having them any more of an outcast in their own home._

"_Stokes! What the hell, man?! I have colleges looking at me man, don't blow this for me." Carrie's boyfriend, Jimmy, said as he walked up to Nick pissed. Nick crushed his cup throwing it off to the side and pushed Jimmy back._

"_You got nerve coming over here talking to me like." Nick said getting right back in Jimmy's face. The men stared at each other with anger in their eyes. Nick had his jaw clinched and waiting for Jimmy to do something. The other teammates started to look over curious. Jimmy knew what had happened between him and Carrie. Jimmy smirked at Nick and he snapped._

_Nick swung his fist as hard as he could, connecting to the side of Jimmy's arrogant head. Nick reached out and grabbed Jimmy and the pair wrestled as the team came rushing over to break them up. Nick's anger gave him the upper half in the fight as Nick shoved Jimmy's hands off of him and grabbed his legs and drove him thru the table adjacent to the water cooler. Just as Nick raised his fist to hammer away on Jimmy, their assistant coach came and grabbed Nick off of him._

_The fight ended in a similar manner of that of Nick's football legacy at his alma mater, abruptly and too soon for Nick. All the good things Nick had done while being a mustang would be forgotten and all he would be known for is costing his team the state championship losing to some scrub team in the first game, who cares that he led his team to two state championships the years prior. All was forgotten._

_The following days were just as depressing, Nick was suspended from schools and the athletic director placed Nick on an athletic suspension. Nick would be unable to play in the upcoming basketball season, which wasn't as depressing. Nick would be put on probation for the upcoming baseball season but he was terrible baseball player. As for the college offers, all of them walked away from Nick once word about the fight got out. No one wanted that kind of liability on their team._

_Nick was stir crazy because he couldn't leave the house and his parents acted like he had killed that scumbag Jimmy kid. Nick was almost hoping he had so at least it was worth it. Nick laid in his bed tossing the football up and down to himself._

"_Nicky?" Carrie asked knocking lightly on his door that was already opened._

"_Yeah…" Nick said sitting up on his bed tossing his football aside._

"_I broke up with Jimmy." She said and Nick just nodded. Nick did not want to argue with his sister to but he was just feeling aggravated about everything. "I'm sorry, Nick."_

"_This wasn't your fault, Care," Nick says with a small smile. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."_

"_But what about football? The scholarships?"_

"_What about them? My job as your older brother is to make sure no one messes with you and I didn't do that. I don't regret it; maybe something better is supposed to happen?" Nick said shrugging his shoulders._

"_Thanks for not telling mom and the judge." Carrie said smiling._

"_No problem just promise, never date a guy like that again or get me when you're in trouble like that." Nick said smiling, she nodded and they hugged._

* * *

Nick hears a slow paced beeping and assumes it's the EKG. Beeping is good, he thought as he struggled to open his eyes. His entire body felt heavy especially his eye lids. He hears people talking in the background but their voices were too warped to make any sense of what they were saying. Nick opened his eyes only for them to shut immediately.

"I think he's waking up." He heard a female voice say. Nick opened his eyes and saw Carrie at his bedside.

"Carrie…" Nick said excitedly but it was in a tired whisper, his voice was raspy from the tube.

"Hey Nicky..." she said but he soon panicked as confusion and tiredness hit him like a sucker punch.

"Where am I?! What happened?!" Nick asked grabbing the rails of his bed but he was too weak to pull himself up. Carrie sprang up and held his hands fearing that he'd pull out one of the many wires or tubes out.

"You were shot. You are at desert palms hospital." Carrie said calming her brother's antsy nerves. It took a minute to register in Nick's head before he looked around and recognized the hospital. A nurse walking by came in to help.

"Okay…" Nick said still little panicking, but just as Carrie felt that they were alright she saw Nick's face fall as he turned to look at his legs. "Carrie, why can't I feel my legs?!" Nick panicked as he started to hyperventilate.

"Nick… Nick, you need to calm down." Carrie cried trying to remain calm as she tried to calm Nick down but he was in a full panic.

"My legs?!" Nick said pushing away his food tray, he was able to get an arm free and grabbed his nurse as she was giving him to help him calm down. Luckily the nurse was able to break free from Nick's grip and give him the medicine. Nick immediately loosened his grip on Carrie and the bed and relaxed against the bed.

"Nick, you were shot. The bullet ricocheted off your sternum and broke apart. The larger fragment landed by your spine causing significant swelling that's why you can't feel your legs." Carrie explained as the medicine helped the now exhausted Nick relax. Nick had used all his energy panicking and felt beyond exhausted.

"Am I paralyzed?" Nick asked sleepy.

"Your doctor doesn't think you will be, but we have to wait for the swelling to go down to be sure." Carrie said holding Nick's hand.

"Okay, how long have I been _sleeping_?" Nick said as he scratched his beard.

"Three days. Your team is outside waiting for you, do you want them to come in?" Carrie asked and Nick nodded. Carrie waved them in. DB, Sara, and Mandy came in.

"How are Kendra and Sophie?" Nick said finally putting the dots together in his head.

"They're safe. They're with Brass now. Gary Stevens is also in custody." DB said and Nick tiredly nodded.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Sara asked and Nick smiled at Mandy.

"Trying to get Mandy to come home with me… and then I remember the doctor telling me to relax." Nick said getting slightly overwhelmed. "When did he get me?"

"When we were leaving the bar. When I got to my car I heard the shot, Finn said that he walked up and shot you." Mandy said holding his other hand.

"Ain't that something?" Nick nervously chuckled as his eyes grew heavy.

* * *

Brass smiled as he walked into the holding cells. As he turned the corner he saw Stevens and his dumb lawyer talking with each other probably coming up with a master plan to try to get off. The lawyer picked his head up as he saw Brass walking towards them.

"Keep harassing my client and you will make my job easy." The lawyer said confidently.

"I thought I'd just let you know that CSI Stokes made a statement as well as Kendra Stevens. You are going to be going away for a long time." Brass said quite confidently.

"That's what you may think, but your beloved CSI isn't the innocent guy you think he is. He acted way out of his scope of practice. It sure smells like Vegas has another dirty cop?" the lawyer said standing up to meet Brass' harsh gaze. Brass bit his lip as he left not giving in to temptation, only to find Ecklie pacing around waiting for Brass with the DA.

"We have a problem." Ecklie said walking up to Brass.

"Nick isn't a dirty cop." Brass argued. "You do not believe the crap that his lawyer is saying."

"Stevens says that Nick sent a car to stop him so that Nick could help Kendra take Sophie. IAB is going to have a field day with this and so is the press…" Ecklie said but Brass interrupted him.

"But Stevens shot him. It wasn't in self defense. He could've kill Nick." Brass argued.

"But this dirties up the waters."

"This whole case has been clear as mud." Ecklie said scratching his head.

* * *

Please Review! What do you think?


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